Curtis stood over us and stared down. His eyes were glassy, and it was obvious he was drunk. “I heard you guys were gay,” he mumbled. Suddenly, he grabbed his mouth and ran towards the bathroom. Vomit spewed out between his fingers before he was able to make it to the door.
“Jesus,” muttered Shade. “He’s a mess.” He looked worriedly over at me. “Do you think he’s going to cause any trouble for us?”
I hadn’t told Shade about Curtis and Pip in the bathroom. He had no clue that Curtis also messed around. I replied, “Don’t worry about it. I don’t think he’ll say anything?”
Shade gave me a puzzled look and asked, “What makes you so sure? He’s bullied guys he thought were gay for years. I should know, I’m one of them.”
“He just won’t,” I reassured him.
We could hear Curtis heaving violently in the bathroom. I rose and told Shade, “I better go check on him.”
“Maybe he’ll drown in his own puke,” responded Shade angrily.
When I opened the bathroom door, Curtis was passed out on the floor. Vomit was running down the side of his face. I knelt to see if he was all right.
I pushed gently on his shoulder. “Curtis? Are you okay?” He moved and mumbled something incoherent.
“Is he all right?” I turned to see Shade looking into the room.
I shrugged and gently shoved Curtis’s shoulder again. “Curtis. Wake up.” He opened his eyes, but they rolled to the back of his head.
I looked up worriedly at Shade. “He’s out cold.” I attempted to lift his shoulder. “Help me get him up.”
“Christ,” muttered Shade as he knelt to help me. “If it was up to me, I’d leave him here on the floor.”
“I can’t do that,” I replied as I put my arms under his shoulders and raised him to his feet. He was dead weight, and I almost dropped him back onto the floor. Shade grabbed his waist, and we were able to get him out the door.
Shade asked, “Now what?”
I nodded toward my room. “Take him to my room.” We managed to pull him over to my bedroom. We took him over to the bed and let him fall onto it. I took his feet and pulled so he was lying across the bed.
I told Shade, “I’ll be back.” I then went into the bathroom, got a wet hand towel and took it back to the bedroom. Shade watched as I washed the vomit off Curtis’s face and shirt.
“You want me to do anything?” he asked.
“Take off his shoes,” I replied as I pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor.
Shade stood up and looked down at Curtis’s near naked body. “Wow!” he exclaimed as he admired his masculine physique.
I laughed and said jokingly, “He’s drunk. You can’t rape him now.”
Shade’s face reddened and he stammered, “I don’t want to do that.” He looked down at Curtis’s chiseled chest. “But is he ripped!”
I laughed and replied, “He and Rodney work out all the time.” I nodded to the other side of the room. “Over there.” I then grabbed the waistband of Curtis’s sweats. “Help me lift him.”
We managed to lift him up so that I could slip his sweats and underwear off. Both were stained with pee. Curtis moved slightly, but he didn’t wake up.
“Jesus!” remarked Shade as he looked down at Curtis’s naked body. “He’s huge!” Even I was amazed at the size. I had seen it briefly when I opened the door and saw him and Pip, but I was too shocked to think about it at the time.
I went over to my dresser and took out a clean pair of sweats. Shade and I managed to put them on him. Shade stared at Curtis the entire time.
I giggled and joked, “I can leave the room if you want me to.”
“No!” he replied. “I’m not going to mess with him. It’s just that he’s so big.”
I pulled the blanket over Curtis, turned to Shade and said jokingly, “Come on, Mr. Pervert.”
“I’m not a pervert,” he insisted as we left the room.
We went back out into the family room and sat on the sofa. Shade was concerned about Curtis. “Does he come home drunk like this a lot?”
“I don’t know,” I replied. “He came home drunk this past Saturday night.”
He asked worriedly, “What are we going to do about him?”
“Don’t know,” I said. “I guess we let him sleep it off.”
“What about us?” he asked. “Where are we going to sleep?”
I gave him a mischievous grin and wiggled my eyebrows. “We can curl up here together on the sofa.”
He looked at the stairs. “What if someone comes down?”
“So,” I laughed. “We’ll just be sleeping.” I got off the sofa, crossed the room and took a blanket off a chair. It was one that Karen would throw over her while watching television. I handed it to Shade and then began undressing.
He asked excitedly, “We’re getting naked?”
“No,” I laughed. “We’ll keep our underwear on.” I grinned and added, “At least for a while.” He stood and removed his clothing. I lay down on the sofa, and he lay down beside me. I put my arm around him so he wouldn’t fall off.
“This isn’t going to work,” he said as he pushed himself back into me.
I pressed against his body, giggled and said, “This works for me.”
“The light,” he said as he jumped up and ran across the room to turn out a lamp. When he lay back down, I pulled him into my arms, reached down and rubbed him.
He awkwardly managed to roll over and face me. “Oh, no you don’t,” he said. “I’m still waiting for my turn.” He lifted the cover and his head disappeared under it.
Five minutes later, he rose, and I reached around and pulled him into my body. “That felt great,” I whispered in his ear, and then I kissed him gently on his neck.
“I haven’t had any experience,” he replied.
“You did good,” I said as I kissed him again on his neck I felt down and rubbed him.
Ten minutes later, Shade was lying with his body pressed against mine. I had my arm wrapped around him to protect him from falling off the sofa.
“I like this,” he cooed softly.
“Me, too,” I whispered in his ear.
He took my arm and held it. I was surprised when he asked, “Do you think we’re going too fast?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “We’ve only known each other for a few weeks, and now we’re lying here after having sex.”
I kissed him on his neck. “We didn’t have sex, we made love.”
He rolled over and faced me. “What?”
“We made love,” I said again. I then kissed him. When I pulled away, I said softly, “I love you, Shade.”
“God, Casey,” he replied. “I’ve been waiting to hear you say that.” He kissed me and said, “I love you, too.”
Rodney woke us up around six-thirty. I slowly opened my eyes when he pushed on my shoulder and whispered my name. “Casey? Are you asleep?”
“I’m not now,” I replied.
Shade moved beside me and asked, “What’s going on?”
Rodney sat down on the floor and faced us. “Curtis didn’t come home last night? I want you to go with me and look for him. He might be at a friend’s house. Mom will kill him if he stayed out all night.”
I gently pushed Shade aside while I sat up. “He’s in my bedroom.”
Rodney asked with surprise, “What?”
I pleaded, “You can’t tell your mother.”
He asked with a puzzled look, “Tell her what?”
Shade mumbled beside me, “He’s on Casey’s bed drunk.”
Rodney rose from the floor. “What? Mom will kill him!” I got up and followed him into my room.
“Curtis!” he shouted as he kicked the bed. I quickly closed the door so no one could hear. “Wake up!”
Curtis’s eyes flew open and he sat up in my bed. He looked around trying to figure out where he was. He asked surprisingly, “What’s going on?”
Rodney put his hand around Curtis’s neck and lifted him off the bed. “What the is wrong with you?” He leaned down into his brother’s panicked face. “When did you start drinking? Coach will kick you off the team if he finds out.” He loosened his grip, and Curtis’s limp body fell back onto the bed. “And that won’t be anything compared to what Mom will do if she finds out.”
Curtis climbed off the bed and tried to leave. However, Rodney grabbed his arm. He shouted into his brother’s face, “I asked you a question! Why are you drinking?”
Curtis tried to pry Rodney’s hand off his arm. “Leave me alone!” Rodney threw Curtis on the bed, and then he raised his hand to hit him.
I grabbed Rodney’s arm, “Stop it!” I shouted. “Don’t hurt him.”
Rodney suddenly turned, “I’m outta here!” he hissed as he sneered at Curtis. “If I stay, I’ll kill him.” He brushed past Shade, and we could hear him stomping up the stairs.
It was an awkward few seconds as Curtis looked at Shade and me. He wanted to leave, but if he did he was afraid he would run into Rodney again. I asked, “Are you all right, Curtis?”
He responded, “Yeah, sure, why wouldn’t I be?” He looked down at the clothes he was wearing. He tugged at my sweats and asked, “Where’s my things?”
“They should be in the dryer,” I responded.
“What are they doing there?”
I said, “You threw up on them. I washed them last night.”
“Thanks,” he replied as he walked to the door. He waited until Shade stepped aside before leaving.
As soon as we heard him heading upstairs, Shade asked, “What is wrong with him?”
I motioned for him to go out into the family room. “I’ll tell you out there.”
After sitting on the sofa, I explained to him what was happening. I knew I was violating the promise I had made to Pip, but I could trust Shade not to tell anyone. Besides, after dealing with Curtis, he deserved an explanation.
“So he’s gay?” he asked with surprise after I finished. He stood and paced around the room. He looked down and said angrily, “All this time he’s been bashing gay guys, and he’s queer himself?”
I shrugged my shoulders, “It looks that way.”
Shade sat down beside me. “So what are you going to do?”
I gave him a puzzled look and asked, “Do about what?”
“Curtis,” he replied. “You going to tell his mother about him getting drunk?”
“Why would I do that?”
“She should know,” he insisted. “Maybe she can help him.” Even though Karen wasn’t my mother, I still didn’t know if it was my place to be the one to out Curtis to his family. Rodney wasn’t even aware of it. He had no problem with me being gay, but he might be upset that Curtis had hidden it from him for so long.
“I’m going to talk to Rodney first,” I responded. “Maybe he’ll know what to do.”
Shade looked at the clock on the wall. He turned and asked, “Do you care if I go home now? I’m kind of not in the mood anymore.”
“It’s okay,” I replied. “I understand.” Even though we had planned to make out some more before anyone got up, neither of us felt like it after dealing with Curtis.
Shade got dressed, and we kissed for a few minutes before he left. I walked him to his car. Before he got in, I asked, “Don’t tell anyone about Curtis. Okay?”
“I won’t,” he promised. “I don’t want to see him hurt.” He looked up at the house to make sure no one was looking out a window before he kissed me. After waving goodbye, I went inside.
An hour had passed since Rodney woke me up, and I was tired. Since I didn’t hear anyone else up, I decided to go back to bed for a little while. I made sure Curtis hadn’t made a mess before lying down.
I was awakened about an hour later when Lane came barging into my room. He sat on the edge of the bed staring down at me as I pretended to sleep. Finally, he lifted my left eye with his fingers and asked, “Are you awake, Casey?”
I yawned and stretched out. “I guess I am now,” I grumbled.
“Good,” he said excitedly, “cause I want you to go looking for frogs with me at the pond.”
“No way,” I replied. “It’s too cold out.” Besides, I was afraid we might run into Mike if we did.
Lane whined, “I’m bored.”
“Bored? You just got out of bed!” I rolled over with my back to him. “Besides, it’s Saturday.” I pulled the blanket over my head. “I want to sleep.”
“Okay,” replied Lane as he pulled back the blanket and snuggled in beside me.
I mumbled, “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to go back to sleep, too,” he answered. He put his arm around me, but he didn’t sleep. Instead, he tossed and turned for about a half hour.
I finally turned toward him. “How about we go watch some cartoons?”
He grinned and said, “Okey, Dokey.” He jumped from the bed and ran from the room. I groaned, got out of bed and joined him on the sofa. So much for sleeping in on a Saturday morning when Lane is around.
Lane watched cartoons while I curled up on the sofa beside him. I couldn’t fall asleep because he kept giggling and laughing at the television. Even though I wasn’t watching the screen, I could tell from the frequent, “Beep, beep,” that he was watching Road Runner cartoons.
After a while, I managed to doze off. That is, until Lane woke me up by poking on my leg. “Casey,” he asked softly, “Are you asleep?”
“No,” I mumbled.
“Good,” he replied, “because I got something to ask you.”
“Okay, shoot.” I lay beside him with my eyes still shut.
“Who is Al Peterson?”
I shrugged my shoulder. “I don't know. Why?”
He explained, “Lorenzo had us singing a song yesterday.”
“Uh, huh.”
“Before we had to leave the stage, we were supposed to wave and say goodbye to Al Peterson.”
I mumbled sleepily, “That’s nice.”
“So who’s Al Peterson?”
“I don't know,” I replied. “Sounds like a football player. Why don’t you ask Lorenzo?” I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
Lane must have gone to his room, because when I woke up I was alone in the family room. My stomach started to growl. I looked at the clock, and it was after one o’clock.
I headed up the stairs and heard someone in the kitchen. I thought it might be Lane. I was going to sneak up behind and scare him. Instead, it was Curtis. He was standing in front of the refrigerator and staring inside. He turned and looked at me when I entered, but he said nothing.
I laughed nervously and remarked, “I guess someone else is hungry, too.”
He slammed the refrigerator door and muttered, “Ain’t a thing in this house to eat.” He then opened a cabinet door and looked inside.
I walked over and opened the refrigerator door. I took out a carton of eggs and a pack of bacon. I held them up to Curtis and asked, “How about some breakfast?”
He nodded his head and responded, “Sure. I guess.” He sat on a stool while I took out a skillet from the pantry.
I turned to him and asked, “Where is everybody?”
“Mom and Randy took Lane to the park,” he replied. “I think Rodney went over to that Megan girl’s house.”
“How do you like your eggs?”
“What?”
I held up a couple of eggs. “How do you like your eggs?”
“Fried, I guess,” he replied.
He sat silently and watched as I prepared breakfast. I was becoming nervous from the awkward silence. I took a loaf of bread and placed it in front of him. “You can make toast,” I said.
He looked at the bread and asked, “How do I do that?”
I wanted to laugh, but I knew it would make him upset. I pointed over to the toaster and said, “Put the bread in there.”
“Oh yeah, right,” he replied as he got up and placed four slices into the toaster. He returned and sat on the stool. “Want me to do anything else?”
“You can pour us some orange juice,” I said. After doing that, he sat back down and waited for me to finish. Since I figured he might be hungry after getting drunk the night before, I made his portion twice the size of mine.
He muttered, “Thanks,” when I put it down in front of him. Cautiously, I sat down on the stool beside him.
We ate quietly for several minutes. He glanced over at me several times, but he said nothing. Since he didn’t seem upset by my presence, I thought perhaps it would be a good time to speak.
I looked over at him and asked, “You okay, Curtis?”
He didn’t look up as he shoved a mouthful of egg into this mouth and muttered, “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be okay?”
“If you want someone to talk to, you can trust me,” I said and then held my breath. I was afraid he might explode if he thought I was getting too personal.
He didn’t say anything for a minute. He took a drink of his juice and looked over at me. Finally, he said defensively, “I ain’t gay.”
“I didn’t say you were,” I replied softly.
“Well, I ain’t,” he repeated again.
I took a deep breath and said, “Well, I am.”
He looked over and scowled, “Yeah, I figured that much.”
I got up from the stool and took my plate over to the sink and washed it. I expected Curtis to leave, but he stayed seated. He watched me as I removed his plate from the counter.
I didn’t turn around to look at him as I said, “I’m just saying, if you need someone to talk to, you can trust me. Okay? I told Pip that.”
“Yeah, I know.”
I didn’t feel like the conversation was going anywhere. At least he wasn’t blowing up and telling me to mind my own business. When I finished hand drying the dishes and putting them back into the cupboard, I turned and looked at him.
“I guess I’ll go watch some television,” I said.
“Yeah, Okay,” he replied as he remained seated.
“My offer stands,” I reminded him. “If you need someone to talk to, you can trust me. Okay?”
He replied, “Yeah, sure. Thanks,” as I left the room.
I went to the family room and found a movie on HBO that I hadn’t seen before. I was stretched out on the sofa with my feet on the coffee table when Curtis came downstairs and sat on the sofa beside me.
He looked over and asked, “Can we talk?”